Our Mission

Our mission is set forth in The Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities, a document from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities. Originally written in 1975, the Plan was revised in 1985, and again updated in 2001.

Based on the principles set forth in Pope John Paul II’s Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), the Pastoral Plan provides a framework for our diocese and dioceses throughout the country in which to carry out the message and mission of the Church in matters relating to the dignity of the human person.

It focuses on four major areas in which to undertake the Church’s mission to build a Culture of Life:

Prayer and worship directed to participation in the sacramental life of the Church and in programs of communal and individual prayer, that the culture of death that surrounds us today will be replaced by a culture of life and love.

Public Information and Education to deepen understanding of the sanctity of human life and the humanity of unborn children, the moral evil of intentionally killing innocent human beings—whether at the beginning of life or at its end—and the mission of the Church to witness to and serve all human life.

Public Policy efforts directed to restoring legal protection to the lives of unborn children and those vulnerable to pressures to end their lives by assisted suicide, and to providing morally acceptable alternatives to abortion and assisted suicide.

Pastoral Care for women with problems related to pregnancy; for all who have been involved in abortion; for those who are disabled, sick, and dying, and their families and caregivers; for those who have lost loved ones to violent crime; and for those in prison sentenced to death.